New York monologist Bob Brader, or Little Bobby as his family calls him, takes the stage to announce the death of his father, reading from an obit he posted on his fridge for a year because "reading it made me smile."

Planting himself in a folding chair next to a blown-up family photo, Brader proceeds to tell the unforgettable story of a childhood so abusive it’ll make your skin crawl. It’s made even more disturbing by the almost cheerful hatred with which he tells it.

"Everybody loved" charming ex-Marine Robert Bader Sr., who, after first mention, is referred to as The Devil. That seems an apt nickname for a closeted homosexual predator who beat his son daily and once scrubbed the boy’s teeth so hard his gums bled for days.

Brader is to be admired for turning his tragic past into art rather than letting it destroy him. But there’s something sad and slightly disappointing about the aggressive note on which he ends his story.

— Carolin Vesely

From the official Fringe Festival program:

In this daring, uplifting and comedic solo show, acclaimed New York monologist Bob Brader tells the gripping, totally true story of discovering that his charismatic ex-Marine father is a pedophile.

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